Impact of substitutes big reason behind winning run, says Des Buckingham

Cassio Gabriel powered Mumbai City to a victory over Jamshedpur FC at the Fatorda Stadium.

Mumbai City continued their stellar form in the Indian Super League against Jamshedpur FC. Des Buckingham's men defeated the Men of Steel 4-2 courtesy of goals of Cassio Gabriel, Igor Angulo, Ygor Catatau and Bipin Singh. Komal Thatal and Eli Sabia replied for Jamshedpur in the second half. However, their efforts weren't enough, as Mumbai now lead in the points table by four points.

Mumbai head coach Des Buckingham met with the media to discuss the match and his players' performances:

Assessment of game

Buckingham was proud of his team's performance. The 36-year-old tactician enjoyed the attacking brand of football Mumbai City FC played. Defeating the team managed by Owen Coyle, someone he admires, made the former Melbourne City manager proud of his team.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jU_k5MY008

He said, "We scored four goals. Again, we continued to show real attacking, attractive football. To go three goals up against an excellent team, a very well-coached Owen Coyle team. It was excellent. Full credit to them as well. They nearly got themselves back in the game. But, I'm proud of how we stood up, at 3-2 especially. And then went on to score the fourth and secure the game for us."

Performances of his players

Ygor Catatau has developed a habit of scoring after coming on as a substitute. He continues to challenge the likes of Igor Angulo and Cassio Gabriel for a place in the starting lineup. Des understands how the substitutions have benefited the team in the past few games.

"We want impact from every player that comes on from the bench. Ygor continues to deliver in that aspect and so do the others. Actually, the changes in the last couple of games are the big reasons how we have gone on to finish the game strong. But, we also have to look at the ones that started the game. Igor again scored an excellent goal," the former Melbourne City coach explained.

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Missing out on clean-sheet again

Mumbai are an attacking team. However, their attacking football means they struggle to keep clean-sheets. Des Buckingham doesn't focus too much on the clean-sheets. He wants the team to limit the chances they concede.

Buckingham quipped, "We had a clean-sheet at the start of the season in the 3-0 win against Goa. I want my teams to play attractive football and quick football. I want to enjoy watching them from the sidelines. So, we will continue to do that. Yes, of course, we would like clean-sheets. But, if it detracts away from the style of football and has us commit lesser numbers forward, we need to be better at certain times in the game to make sure we don't give away the ball in dangerous areas."

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Extending gap at top of table

Mumbai now lead Jamshedpur FC, the second-placed team in the table, by four points. The gap means the Islanders have a cushion in the early stages of the league. However, the head coach knows that the only standing that matters is the one at the end of the season.

He noted, "We don't tend to look at the table at this time of the year. We still got three-quarters of this season to go. It doesn't matter where you are in the league right now. It matters where you finish. That's going to be the key. We want to focus on the game we have got in 5-6 days."

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